Global Positioning Systems

Most American drivers say they've been burned more than once by their GPS navigation systems, according to a new survey commissioned by Michelin. In the online survey of 2,200 drivers, 63% reported being taken off track an average of 4.4 times since starting to use global positioning systems. Younger adults between 18 and 34 said they'd been given wrong directions 6.3 times. An unfortunate 7% of motorists were misdirected more than 10 times. The fallibility of GPS systems is “something that we all kind of think [is true]

Air travel in the future will be faster, cleaner and less expensive if the Federal Aviation Administration's $40-billion overhaul of the nation's air control system is completed in the next seven years. That's a big if. With the federal sequestration fight in Washington, FAA officials say funding for the project could be in jeopardy. The plan, known as NextGen, replaces outdated radar-based technology with global positioning systems and digital communications to bring the country's air control system into the 21st century.

Air travel in the future will be faster, cleaner and less expensive if the Federal Aviation Administration's $40-billion overhaul of the nation's air control system is completed in the next seven years. That's a big if. With the federal sequestration fight in Washington, FAA officials say funding for the project could be in jeopardy. The plan, known as NextGen, replaces outdated radar-based technology with global positioning systems and digital communications to bring the country's air control system into the 21st century.

Most American drivers say they've been burned more than once by their GPS navigation systems, according to a new survey commissioned by Michelin. In the online survey of 2,200 drivers, 63% reported being taken off track an average of 4.4 times since starting to use global positioning systems. Younger adults between 18 and 34 said they'd been given wrong directions 6.3 times. An unfortunate 7% of motorists were misdirected more than 10 times. The fallibility of GPS systems is “something that we all kind of think [is true]

Orbital Sciences Corp. agreed Monday to acquire Magellan Systems--a leader in the fast-growing consumer market for satellite receivers that tell hikers and sportsmen where they are--in a stock deal valued at $55 million. The deal opens potentially lucrative opportunities for San Dimas-based Magellan to start producing and marketing two-way personal pagers that would be part of a global communications system Orbital is developing for $150 million.

A friend of mine has a global positioning system in his car that tells him where he is and how to get where he's going. I used to wish the little Houdini inside the receiver would come out and get acquainted. But since attending a seminar this month at the Royal Geographical Society in London, I know that GPS is the work of scientists, not magicians, and that it has extraordinary applications for travelers who read maps and cartographers who make them.

Really, Holly Hirzel led her 59-year-old father astray only once, down the slope of prickly pear cactuses. (And he only got a tiny injury on that detour, just a scratch.) Which isn't bad, considering that Holly, 29, the CEO of a video-game development company, had never before relied on the synch of 12 orbiting satellites to find her way to a secret spot--or anywhere, for that matter.

A bust of Christopher Columbus stands proudly outside the office of the head of the European Space Agency, a reminder of Europe's grand tradition of exploration and the riches it can bring. Nowadays, space is the new frontier and Europe has mostly ceded its trailblazing role to the powerful nation in the New World whose settlement Columbus initiated. But that doesn't mean the treasure hunt is over.

In today's high-tech world of satellite imagery and global travel, geographers would seemingly have few secrets left to unravel. But at least one question has been nagging at explorers and map makers alike: the precise source of the Amazon, the world's largest river, with six times the flow of the Nile. Since at least 1971, explorers have been bickering over which of two small streams in the Peruvian Andes actually represents the headwaters of the mighty South American river.

Rockwell International Corp. beat out two rivals to win a lucrative Air Force contract Monday to design and produce a new generation of Navstar Global Positioning System satellites. The pact ultimately could be worth $1.3 billion to the Seal Beach-based industrial giant. Rockwell could hire as many as 50 new workers by 1998 to handle the initial five-year, $382-million contract, the company said.

A friend of mine has a global positioning system in his car that tells him where he is and how to get where he's going. I used to wish the little Houdini inside the receiver would come out and get acquainted. But since attending a seminar this month at the Royal Geographical Society in London, I know that GPS is the work of scientists, not magicians, and that it has extraordinary applications for travelers who read maps and cartographers who make them.

A bust of Christopher Columbus stands proudly outside the office of the head of the European Space Agency, a reminder of Europe's grand tradition of exploration and the riches it can bring. Nowadays, space is the new frontier and Europe has mostly ceded its trailblazing role to the powerful nation in the New World whose settlement Columbus initiated. But that doesn't mean the treasure hunt is over.

Really, Holly Hirzel led her 59-year-old father astray only once, down the slope of prickly pear cactuses. (And he only got a tiny injury on that detour, just a scratch.) Which isn't bad, considering that Holly, 29, the CEO of a video-game development company, had never before relied on the synch of 12 orbiting satellites to find her way to a secret spot--or anywhere, for that matter.

In today's high-tech world of satellite imagery and global travel, geographers would seemingly have few secrets left to unravel. But at least one question has been nagging at explorers and map makers alike: the precise source of the Amazon, the world's largest river, with six times the flow of the Nile. Since at least 1971, explorers have been bickering over which of two small streams in the Peruvian Andes actually represents the headwaters of the mighty South American river.

There is little but prairie surrounding the carefully guarded buildings. From the time authorized personnel slide their personalized badges through the card reader and punch in a four-digit access code, they have 15 seconds to pass through a door leading to the master control station. Down a long hallway, seven people in blue jumpsuits work at computer terminals.

Rockwell International Corp. beat out two rivals to win a lucrative Air Force contract Monday to design and produce a new generation of Navstar Global Positioning System satellites. The pact ultimately could be worth $1.3 billion to the Seal Beach-based industrial giant. Rockwell could hire as many as 50 new workers by 1998 to handle the initial five-year, $382-million contract, the company said.

There is little but prairie surrounding the carefully guarded buildings. From the time authorized personnel slide their personalized badges through the card reader and punch in a four-digit access code, they have 15 seconds to pass through a door leading to the master control station. Down a long hallway, seven people in blue jumpsuits work at computer terminals.

Orbital Sciences Corp. agreed Monday to acquire Magellan Systems--a leader in the fast-growing consumer market for satellite receivers that tell hikers and sportsmen where they are--in a stock deal valued at $55 million. The deal opens potentially lucrative opportunities for San Dimas-based Magellan to start producing and marketing two-way personal pagers that would be part of a global communications system Orbital is developing for $150 million.